Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Background 2
Introduction 3
Data collection 8
Frequency 8
Conclusion 14
1
Background
Author
This guide was prepared by Jan Barned CPA, principal of
Financial Management Trainer, fmtrainer.com.au
Contributors
CPA Australia gratefully acknowledges the input of
Trevor Beckingham FCPA, company secretary of Brisco
Butler Automotive Services and Mike Sewell FCPA,
director of Market Gap Investments.
2
Introduction
3
Why use dashboard reports?
For continual improvement of business performance, all It is important to note that dashboard reporting can be
business owners and managers should step back from the applied by any business in any industry as the report
day-to-day activities of their business and review the bigger can and should be tailored for each business. Further,
picture of business operations on a regular basis. To assist dashboard reporting can be prepared for different areas of
with this, business owners and managers should receive a business.
regular management reporting.
The objective of management reporting is to provide useful
information on a regular basis to business owners and
Limitations of dashboard
management that highlights key issues, risks and trends reporting
in the business. Key decision makers should use such
The value of dashboard reporting is its clear and concise
reporting to inform their decision making.
presentation of key business drivers and risks. Such value
Most financial software systems provide myriad reports is lost where it reports in great depth or on a wide variety of
to help meet compliance requirements and monitor the drivers. Details on problems highlighted in a dashboard report
financial results of a business. Smaller businesses in should be provided in separate, more detailed reporting.
particular are unlikely to generate these reports and, if
It is important that business owners, managers and
they do, the business owner or management may not
other users of the dashboard reports understand that the
necessarily fully understand them or use them to inform
information given will only be effective where: the data that
their decision making.
is used to generate the reports is kept up-to-date, the
Generally, this would be due to such reports being difficult reports are reviewed regularly and the information contained
to read and understand and most business owners and in the reports is useful to decision makers (reporting that
managers are time poor. Sifting through numerous and may have been useful three years ago may no longer
detailed management reports to find relevant information be relevant).
and identifying issues from such reports tends to be low
Using spreadsheets to prepare dashboard reports can lead
on the list of priorities for many business owners and
to some risk. Importing data directly from one system to
managers. Dashboard reporting is one method to improve
another carries less risk than re-entering data into a report
management reporting and increase the likelihood of
(data entry errors). However, spreadsheet reports may
such reports being used. It does this by presenting critical
require manipulation of the data to present the information
information on key business drivers and risks in a visual
in a useful format. Regular review of any formulas and other
format and in one or two pages at most, making
formatting within the spreadsheet should be undertaken to
dashboard reporting easy to read and interpret without
ensure the validity of the information.
detailed explanation.
As dashboard reports provide an overview of consolidated
business information, usually in a visual format and focused
on key metrics and risks, users of the reports are more
likely to read them regularly and initiate actions or ask
appropriate questions.
The information in a dashboard report should facilitate
discussion or focus where deviations from benchmarks
are noted and encourage management by exception.
In essence, the report provides triggers for further action
if required.
Business performance is not just about financial
performance. Operational performance is also an important
measure. Dashboard reports should also include operational
measures to improve decision making.
4
Creating dashboard reports
Planning the report The audience can also be external stakeholders to the
business, such as suppliers, lenders, shareholders and
For dashboard reporting to become a tool that drives industry associates.
important business decisions, it is important to understand Step 7 speak with your identified audience and ask them
what key information needs to be included in the report. what their key information needs are.
This requires planning.
Step 8 speak with employees and your external
The planning should outline: accountant to identify the information they believe key
the information needs of the users of the report decision makers should be aware of.
the other key areas that should be monitored Step 9 filter the information from the above steps
to identify the key drivers and risks of the business. In
information that is currently available filtering the information, the business should ask why this
information that will have to start being collected information is important.
It may take more than one person to find out what key
drivers are to be reported on, the design and construction Developing the information
of the dashboard and the collation and the interpretation
of information. It should be noted that information for a Once the business has identified what to include in a
metric on a dashboard may come from different sources dashboard report, the next step is to design how the
and systems. information is to be presented in the report. To assist in
this, the business should consider:
Businesses may like to consider using their external
accountant to assist in the planning and design of a why this information is important
dashboard report.
why the issue included in the dashboard report
is happening
What to include in a the performance measures or key metrics of the business
dashboard report the acceptable levels of variance for the key metrics
Step 1 determine what to include in a dashboard report the impact that each issue reported on will have on
to evaluate business performance and note areas critical to future performance
business performance and underperformance. how often users need information
Step 2 incorporate any key measures implemented to The next step will be to categorise the information. For
improve business performance as a result of the evaluation example, dashboard reports could be presented in groups
into the dashboard report. such as historical information, forecasts and trends,
Step 3 identify the key strategic goals and other key goals operational activity, compliance and strategy. The grouping
of the business from the business plan and sub-plans, such should be developed specifically for whatever works best
as the marketing plan. for the users of the information.
5
Metrics should be easy to create, understand and explain. They should be aligned with any assumptions used in the
business, only highlight the most important issues and provide information on trends (positive or negative).
It will be important to set only as many metrics as necessary for the dashboard report. Remember the report is to be used as
a trigger for further analysis, not to include micro-level details of the business.
The dashboard report should also be flexible so that new metrics can be introduced and metrics that are no longer relevant
can be omitted.
When developing the dashboard report, it is important to remember that dashboard reporting is most effective where the
number of metrics reported on is limited to the key drivers and risks of the business.
Table 1 below provides examples of the types of information that should be considered including in dashboard reporting. This
table is not intended to provide a complete list. Those developing the dashboard should keep front of mind that the report will
be most useful where there is a mix-n-match of relevant information. Please remember, a business should concentrate on
preparing metrics for the few key drivers and risks that are most relevant to decision makers.
Table 1: Examples of the types of information that could be included in a dashboard report
6
Business area Information to include in dashboard report
Net profit Information that could be included under net profit includes:
total amount of variable expenses
variable expenses against sales as a percentage
total amount of fixed expenses
fixed expenses against sales as a percentage
monitoring variations to individual expense items from previous periods by setting appropriate trigger points,
such as an increase by 5% or by dollar value
net profit value
net profit margin
breakeven calculation
Business efficiency Information that could be included under business efficiency includes:
debtors days
creditors days
inventory days
work in progress days
stock turnover
stock on hand to total assets
aged debtors report
aged creditors report
Cashflow/liquidity Information that could be included under cashflow/liquidity includes:
cash balances, including investments
financing facilities, including amounts drawn, available term and interest charges
cashflow forecast
working capital available
current ratio
quick ratio
leverage ratio
debt to asset ratio
Balance sheet Information that could be included under balance sheet includes:
total sales to total assets
return on assets
return on investments
Business planning Key metrics developed to monitor business performance against business strategy.
Other key This is dependent on the nature of the business, the goals of the business, business drivers and risks.
performance
indicators
7
Data collection Frequency
Although it is likely that developing the dashboard report will When deciding the frequency of reporting, it is essential
take some time and resources at first, it is important that to assess the resources available to generate and action
once the reports have been designed and implemented, results from the report as well as understanding the needs
they be easy to populate and produce on a regular basis. of the business and who the audience will be.
Ideally, data collection should be relatively automated with
Generally, all businesses should generate monthly reports;
little or no intervention required. Data collection should form
however for some businesses weekly dashboard reporting
part of routine business operations and be aligned with the
may also assist. For example, for a business that has high
existing systems of the business.
weekly sales or where there is a large amount of work
or orders in progress, weekly reporting can provide key
Format of the dashboard report information such as stock balances, staff productivity, sales
information including number of customers, average sales
Once the metrics have been decided and the information value, production outputs and delays in processes.
sourced, then the next step is to format a meaningful
dashboard report that is quick to populate, easy to
understand and captures all the relevant information
for users.
Although formats will vary according to business needs,
typically the key strategic issues will be displayed at the
top of the report with the lower level KPIs displayed below.
Business owners and managers may consider producing a
number of dashboard reports to cover different areas within
the business.
It may also be useful to develop the report into groups
such as historical, current and forecast. The grouping of
information should be based on what works best for
the business.
Finally, the presentation of the information will be critical to
the success of dashboard reporting. Dashboard reporting
should be visual and engaging. Visual presentation can
include charts, colours, symbols (for example, up and
down arrows, traffic lights) and any other method that is
easy to read and understand. The report can also include
numbers; however, these should be kept to a minimum
remembering that the objective of dashboard reports is
to provide an overview of information that triggers further
analysis if required.
If your financial software is unable to give you the visual
presentations you seek, you could export the data to
a spreadsheet, where various charts and tables can
be developed.
Two examples of dashboard reports are provided on the
pages following.
8
Example one: profit / cashflow dashboard
$80,000 $70,000
25%
$60,000
$60,000 20%
$50,000
$40,000 15%
$40,000
$30,000
10%
$20,000 $20,000
5%
$10,000
$0 0%
$-
Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3
($20,000)
Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3 Mth 4 Mth 5 Mth 6 Mth 7 Mth 8 Mth 9 Mth 10 Mth 11 Mth 12
Cost of sales Gross profit Gross profit margin
Monthly
Monthly net
net profit
Monthlysales
Monthly sales
$10,000 20%
$100,000
$8,000
$90,000 10%
$80,000 $6,000
$70,000
$4,000 0%
$60,000
$50,000 $2,000
-10%
$40,000 $0
$30,000
$20,000 ($2,000) -20%
$10,000 ($4,000)
$- -30%
($6,000)
Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3 Mth 4 Mth 5 Mth 6 Mth 7 Mth 8 Mth 9 Mth 10 Mth 11 Mth 12
($8,000) -40%
Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3
Actual Budget
Net profit Net profit margin
Cashflow
Mth 1 Mth 2 Mth 3 Mth 4 Mth 5 Mth 6 Mth 7 Mth 8 Mth 9 Mth 10 Mth 10 Mth 12
Actual Forecast
Open bank $16,000 $15,225 $37,217 $60,817 $71,134 $69,784 $77,381 $32,698 $31,348 $38,945 $24,262 $22,912
Cashflow in $67,200 $68,400 $73,200 $67,200 $79,600 $73,200 $67,200 $79,600 $73,200 $67,200 $79,600 $73,200
Cashflow out $67,975 $46,408 $49,600 $56,883 $80,950 $65,603 $111,883 $80,950 $65,603 $81,883 $80,950 $65,603
Close bank $15,225 $37,217 $60,817 $71,134 $69,784 $77,381 $32,698 $31,348 $38,945 $24,262 $22,912 $30,509
9
Example two: working capital dashboard
Top
Topten
tencustomers
customers previous
previous1212 months
months
Average
Average debtor
debtor days days
Watts
Pearce 180
Kennedy 150
Number of days
Thomas
Berry 120
King 90
Moore
Marks 60
Jones 30
Smith
0
$ $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Current toptop
Current tenten
debtors
debtors Monthly stock purchases previous 12 months
Monthy stock purchases previous 12 months
$8,000 $80,000
$70,000
$6,000
$60,000
$4,000 $50,000
$40,000
$2,000 $30,000
$20,000
$
$10,000
Smith
Jones
Marks
King
Berry
Pearce
Watts
Moore
Rosa
Harry
$
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Stock
Stock daysby
days byitem
item
Customer over credit limit
Customer over credit limit
Lamps
$8,000 Bunks
$6,000 Tallboy
$4,000 Single bed
$- Mirrors
Bedside
Smith
Marks
Watts
Rosa
Harry
Berry
Chairs
Number of days
Current supplier
Current supplierbalance
balance Work
Workin progress
in progess current
current monthmonth
orders orders
Belmore, $5,000
$5,000
Taken
Ely, $11,000
Uply, $6,000 Completed
$25,000
Outstanding
$20,000
Sharp, $10,000 Returned
Main, $1,000
South, $2,000
10
Conclusion
11
Appendix A: Dashboard reporting
a case study
To assist in developing a dashboard report, the following case study is provided as a guide. This case study should only
be used as reference in developing your own business dashboard report. This case study also includes an example of a
dashboard report
Financial statements
Profit and loss statement for year ended July
Current year ($) Previous year ($)
Sales 438,707.15 345,314.93
Cost of goods sold
Opening stock 119,979.00 71,573.65
Purchases 224,938.00 214,050.11
344,917.00 285,623.76
Closing stock 96,490.49 119,979.00
Total cost of goods sold 248,426.51 56.64% 165,644.76 47.97%
Gross profit 190,280.64 43.36% 179,670.17 52.03%
Operating expenses
Salaries 233,294.80 53.18% 200,236.01 57.99%
Overheads 85,903.42 19.58% 96,691.18 28.00%
Total operating expenses (319,198.22) 72.76% (296,927.19) 85.99%
Net loss 128,917.58 117,257.02
12
Breakdown of operating expenses
Current year Previous year
Operating expenses
$ % of expense $ % of expense
Cleaning contract 1,740.00 2.03 1,160.00 1.20
Repairs and maintenance
Buildings 794.26 0.92 656.39 0.68
Equipment 978.22 1.14 859.64 0.89
Furniture and fittings 1,702.80 1.98 1,626.81 1.68
Grounds 4,656.30 5.42 9,646.20 9.98
Electricity 2,821.48 3.28 2,729.10 2.82
Vehicles
Fuel 3,220.07 3.75 2,578.55 2.67
Registration 355.00 0.41 352.20 0.36
Insurance 1,250.00 1.46 1,200.00 1.24
Repairs and maintenance 1,712.51 1.99 1,872.71 1.94
Transport contract 460.04 0.48
Depreciation
Equipment 5,152.84 6.00 5,421.84 5.61
Furniture and fittings 4,324.41 5.03 4,961.39 5.13
Motor vehicles 6,392.29 7.44 6,577.53 6.80
Advertising 14,515.12 16.90 15,954.60 16.50
Uniform costs 277.89 0.32 451.54 0.47
Printing and stationery 1,017.50 1.18 892.62 0.92
Telephone 2,655.50 3.09 2,960.61 3.06
Staff provisions 1,431.55 1.67 1,665.49 1.72
Rent 22,455.00 26.14 19,525.00 20.19
Equipment 620.00 0.72 1,222.22 1.26
Staff training 310.09 0.36 438.18 0.45
Travelling 191.07 0.22 76.63 0.08
Materials and supplies 529.48 0.62 581.65 0.60
Bank charges 3,013.19 3.51 2,809.30 2.91
Memberships and subscriptions 579.32 0.67 520.00 0.54
Health and safety 259.30 0.30 117.79 0.12
Postage 364.70 0.42 369.44 0.38
Computers 4,504.14 4.66
Sundry administration costs 2,583.53 3.01 1,681.39 1.74
Consultancy fees 2,818.18 2.91
Total operating expenses 85,903.42 96,691.18
13
Balance sheet
Current year ($) Prior year ($)
Assets
Current assets
Cash/bank 16,320.00 65,777.82
Debtors 14,280.00 32,000.00
Stock 96,490.00 119,979.00
Other 4,210.00 5,500.00
Total current assets 131,300.00 223,256.82
Non-current assets
Delivery vehicle 75,000.00 75,000.00
Less accumulated depreciation (19,547.35) (12,969.82)
Total 55,452.65 62,030.18
Nursery fit out 115,000.00 115,000.00
Less accumulated depreciation (66,955.45) (61,994.06)
Total 48,044.55 53,005.94
Equipment 50,000.00 50,000.00
Less accumulated depreciation (41,021.20) (35,599.36)
Total 8,978.80 14,400.64
Total non-current assets 112,476.00 129,436.76
Total assets 243,776.00 352,693.52
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Creditors 65,000.00 48,000.00
Credit card 15,000.00 12,000.00
Total current liabilities 80,000.00 60,000.00
Non-current liabilities
Bank loan 20,000.00 20,000.00
Total liabilities 100,000.00 80,000.00
Equity
Shareholders funds (including retained earnings, losses) 272,693.58 389,950.60
Less current year accumulated losses (128,917.58) (117,257.02)
Total net worth 143,776.00 272,693.58
14
Operational activities
Staffing
Full-time equivalent 5.30
Owner/manager 1.30
Apprentice 1.00
Six part-time 3.00
Part-time duties
General sales, orders, quotes 0.80
General sales, admin (0.1) 0.60
General sales, buying 0.60
General sales 0.60
Two staff general sales (2 x0.20) 0.40
Documentation reviewed
Mark-up policy: The standard mark-up policy is 110 per cent
Buying policy: No formal buying policy held
Job descriptions: No formal job descriptions held
Discount/VIP policy: The discount policy noted the following:
15
Analysis of Bundalong retail nursery financial information comparison of benchmark to current and
previous year
Variance of Variance of Variance of
Industry
Current year current year to current to Previous year previous year
benchmark
benchmark previous year to benchmark
Total income $446,556.00 $438,707.15 ($7,848.85) $93,392.22 $345,314.93 ($101,241.07)
Cost of goods sold 48.99% 56.63% 7.64% 8.66% 47.97% (1.02%)
Gross margin 51.01% 43.37% (7.64%) (8.66%) 52.03% 1.02%
Selected overheads as a percentage of income
Advertising and
2.26% 16.90% 14.64% 0.40% 16.50% 14.00%
promotion
Salaries including staff
13.77% 53.18% 39.41% (4.81%) 57.99% 44.22%
on costs
Vehicle operating costs 3.74% 7.61% 3.87% 1.40% 6.21% 2.47%
Rent 3.32% 26.14% 22.82% 5.95% 20.19% 16.87%
Bank charges 1.53% 3.51% 1.98% 0.60% 2.91% 1.38%
Total overheads 37.25% 72.76% 35.75% (13.23%) 85.99% 48.75%
Net profit margin 13.76% (29.39%) (43.15%) 4.57% (33.96%) (47.72%)
Personnel numbers (FTE)
Working owners 1.52 1.30 (0.22) 0 1.30 (0.22)
Sales staff and
2.36 4.00 1.64 0.50 3.50 1.14
nurserymen
Any other staff 0.49 0 (0.49) 0 0 (0.49)
Total personnel 4.37 5.30 0.93 0.50 4.80 0.43
Other benchmark information
Stock turn rate 3.50 2.30 (1.20) 0.57 1.73 (1.77)
Plants grown in house
as a percentage of total 20.00% 22.00% 2.00% 2.00% 20.00% 0%
sales
Trading hours per week 54.00 59.50 5.50 0 59.50 5.50
Percentage of sales
made to account 25.00% 58.00% 33.00% 3.00% 55.00% 30.00%
customers
For further detailed commentary on the analysis, refer to the CPA Australia publication Evaluating business performance and
Improving business performance at cpaaustralia.com.au/smallbusiness
16
Example of Bundalong retail nursery dashboards
$70,000 < 90
< 90 6%
$60,000
8%
$50,000
$40,000 < 60
18%
$30,000
< 30
$20,000 68%
$10,000
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr
80%
5 Months
60% Nov Jul
3 Months
29% Ma r Feb
40% Jan Dec
Sep 36%
20% 4 Months Aug
Jun Oct
0% Ma y Apr 35%
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Cash Credit
Monthly sales
Monthly discount
sales discount Top sellers > 10%
Top sellers >10%of
of sales
sales $ $
Amount Percentage of Sales Seedlings Fruit Trees Roses Natives Indoor Supplementary stock
Current yearyear
Current total sales/staff
total per
sales/staff per day
day Destroyed stock
Destroyed stock
Staff
$100,000 $6,000
7.0
$90,000
6.0 $5,000
$80,000
$70,000 5.0 $4,000
$60,000
4.0
$50,000 $3,000
$40,000 3.0
$2,000
$30,000 2.0
$20,000 $6,000
1.0
$10,000
11% 12% 13% 14% 14% 18% 18%
$ 0.0 $1,000
% of annual sales Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
17
CPA219077 10/2011